March 2018 NEWSLETTER VOLUME 46, NO. III OFFICERS Attention on Deck! Guild Master Jon Sanford It is that time to elect Guild Officers. In accordance with section 3.4 of the address redacted “Amended and Restated Bylaws, San Diego Ship Modelers Guild, January phone redacted 2016”, a slate was nominated and seconded during the February guild First Mate meeting held aboard the Berkeley. Please see the Election Ballot following Ed Torrence the minutes for the nominated slate. The Ballot includes space for a write-in address redacted candidate and you may vote by mail, email, telephone, or in person at the phone redacted March meeting. A ballot will be sent as a separate document for email Purser purposes. Voting will be tabulated by Log Keeper Isaac Wills. Mail ballots Gary Seaton to
San Diego Ship Modelers’ Guild is affiliated with and supports the Maritime Museum of San Diego http://sdshipmodelersguild.org/ March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 2 MINUTES continued - Log Keeper Report: Isaac Wills had nothing new to Further Show and Tell offerings included Don report. Dressel’s progress with the Dutch fluyt Derfflinger, Dave Yotter’s model of USS Web Master’s Report: Rob Wood was unable to Swordfish (SSN-579), and Karl Zingheim talked attend the meeting and had no news to report. about a new project he was getting underway of First Mate’s Report: Ed Torrence reported Isaac USS Roper (DD-147) engaging a WWII German Wills would be making a future presentation and told U-Boat. Following coffee and a snack, Jon a story about the piano Sanford conducted a book that provides a backdrop auction wielding the new Guild gavel crafted by the to Guild Meetings aboard Museum’s own volunteer the Berkeley as seen here and skilled wood turner, behind Gary Seaton. Ed “Mack” McQuinn. discovered when Beautiful, the gavel that is! watching Ken Kramer’s The meeting was concluded program on PBS “About with the following business San Diego”, this very meeting before adjourning. piano was aboard a two- Purser’s Report: Purser deck ferry named Gary Seaton reported the Roseville plying the waters between the small community of Roseville and San Diego during the guild balance as of 1 February was $
Next meeting is March 2018 SMTWTFS Community 13 March 2018 Build Meeting, 1 2 - 3 1:00 PM aboard 5:30 PM Social 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 the Berkeley 5:30 Officer's Meeting 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 upper passenger deck! 6:00 PM Meeting 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Bring a Model! March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 3 MINUTES continued - First Mate’s Report continued: James Pitt Along with Museum Collection Manager Kevin delivered the first orders of Guild polo shirts with Sheehan, Jon reported a cash award for models embroidered logo. The short sleeve shirt sells for judged: 1st prize - $500, 2nd prize - $200, and 3rd $23.25 including tax and a long sleeve shirt is prize - $100. Look to submit your model(s) to available for $25.25 including tax. If interested, qualify for these awards! Entry deadline is April contact James at
Article 3.4, SDSMG Bylaws January 2016 3.4 Election of Officers. The Guild master shall conduct an election yearly. In January the Guild Master shall appoint a nominating chairman who shall report nominations at the February meeting. Nominations from the floor shall also be taken. Ballots with the nominees shall be published in the newsletter prior to a vote at the March meeting. All votes received by mail, electronically, by phone and those given at the meeting will be tabulated to determine the winners. Mail, email and phone votes shall be made to the log keeper. In the event of a close election, telephonic votes will be verified. The elected slate of officers shall take office at the March meeting. San Diego Ship Modelers Guild 2018 Officer Elections Ballot
The Ballot includes space for a write-in candidate and you may vote by mail, email, telephone, or in person at the March meeting. Voting will be tabulated by Log Keeper Isaac Wills. Mail ballots to
Officer Post February Nominations Yes No Write in Guild Master Ed Torrence Guild Master Karl Zingheim First Mate James Pitt Log Keeper Isaac Wills Purser Gary Seaton Editor Guy Lawrie
The ballot will be sent as a separate word file for email purposes along with the March newsletter. March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 5
Presentation Report There was not a presentation at the February meeting but Isaac Wills has rescheduled a report on The Secret Society of Model Builders of San Diego “Winterfest 2018” scale model contest. As a bonus, former Guild Editor Chuck Seiler offers the following: PEGASUS CROSS SECTION: Chuck Passaro's New Project and Model Ship World Contact “I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce Guild members to a new project Chuck Passaro is designing. During one of the breaks at the February Guild Meeting, I spoke to Jon Sanford about a potential follow-on group build project to the "Queen Anne's Barge" the group is currently working on. Jon had his model of the barge at the meeting. Many of you know Chuck. He has designed the barge and cutter CHEERFUL models, which he sells through his own company. Additionally, he designed (among others) the models SIREN, 18th CENTURY LONG BOAT and ENGLISH PINNACE. One of his current projects is a 1/48 scale cross section of the 1776 British SWAN class Sloop of War PEGASUS, based on the design of David Antscherl. The model will be a fully framed cross section, consisting of 19 frames. The frame construction is based on a unique design which allows construction without any exotic jigs or complicated procedures. It will be simple enough that Bill Grolz can finish it during one year at the Fair, but allows for scratch building of details. More information can be seen at Model Ship World website at: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/17734-pegasus-cross-section-1776-148-by- chuck-swan-class-sloop/& You can access the site even if you are not an MSW member. I don't know if you can view photos or not. It is easy and free to join. There is no obligation and you become an associate member of the Nautical Research Guild. If you are already a member of the NRG, it's twice as free. MSW is a treasure trove of information and is highly recommended for anybody who is building ship models or who likes to watch other people build ship models.”
Chuck Passaro's PEGASUS Cross-Section: Chuck Passaro's PEGASUS Cross-Section: Structural Framing. Interior. Computer rendering by Denis Computer rendering by Denis Rakeric Rakeric March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 6
Community Build Report Build Log Keeper Steve McGivern reported 4 members attended the February 3 meeting in the Berkeley research library including in addition to Steve; Jon Sanford, James Pitt, and Doug Yumoto. Though the meeting was short it was helpful with each builder discussing progress and challenges with their Royal Barge Circa 1700 build. The general topic centered around the difficulties and challenges with planking, especially in the stern area with its compound bends. Jon talked about bending the planks and the merits of using water and a hairdryer. Jon related that a bit of a soak in water will soften the Cherrywood grain easing the bending. The use of a hairdryer will speed the drying process but the wood will hold its shape even with a slower drying period. Jon reported during the Show and Tell period of the February meeting that he continues to make progress with his model and has completed the first section of the instructions which Chuck Passaro mentions as close to the half way point in the build. Here to the right Jon shows his Royal Barge to the meeting.
Show and Tell
S.S. Portland by Tom Hairston (seen here telling about his build, Robert Wills sits behind the case BlueJacket Ship Crafters Scale 1/8 inch = 1 foot The Ship: The steamship Portland was launched in October of 1889 for the Portland Steam Packet Company of Portland, Maine, and her maiden voy- age was early in 1890. This particular ship was one of many in the steam transportation trade. It was an ocean going side-wheeler with a walking-beam type of steam engine. Maine merchants had only two choices of transportation to Boston in those days, either an all day trip in a stage, or three and a half relatively comfortable hours aboard a steamer, with the possibility of a return trip on the same day. continued next page March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 7
S.S. Portland by Tom Hairston continued: The Portland was 291 feet in length, 41 feet, 3 inches in beam, and drew 15 feet of depth. It had four decks for passengers, including the kitchen and dining room located beneath the freight deck. It was reported as having handsome furnishings of the finest materials. The Portland served for nine years between Portland and Boston without any remarkable events. Wikileaks reports she is best known as the namesake of the infamous Portland Gale of 1898, a massive blizzard that struck coastal New England, claiming the lives of over 400 people and more than 150 vessels. On the night of November 26,1898, she sailed from Boston and was caught in the worst gale and snow storm in recent history. Captain Blanchard had run north and nearly cleared the Massachusetts border when the storm was so bad that he turned south to go back to Boston. Later he had turned north again and attempted to ride out the storm by facing into the north east wind. She went down with all hands and passengers, approximately 180 people, near Cape Ann, Massachusetts. The shipwreck site was first located in 1989 by John Fish and Arnold Carr of American Underwater Search and Survey. The find was confirmed in 2002 by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expedition that used ROV's to photograph the wreck. The wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Model (displayed here without its case): The kit was made by the Bluejacket Ship Crafters in Searsport, Maine. The hull is solid basswood and the other parts are made from basswood and plywood, with brass or cast Britannia fittings for its metal parts. The scale is 1/8th inch of the model equals one foot of the ship. It took just over three months to build, and was completed in September of 2017. Tom reports the case is glass and poplar wood like he has made for most of his models. Tom used his table saw to make the case and he ordered custom size glass from his local glass shop. Tom tells us the reason for the job was that my granddaughter, who was living in Portland, Oregon at the time, asked him to make a model of the Portland that she had looked into online. (There was a Portland operating out of Portland, Oregon that was carried over Willamette Falls on St Patrick's Day 1857 resulting in the death of her captain as he attempted to save her.) This was the only kit available, so Tom thinks he may have disappointed his granddaughter a little. March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 8
Phantom New York Pilot Boat by Alex Roel Model Expo solid hull kit No. MS2027 Scale 1:96 1/8 in = 1 foot Alex reported further progress on his Phantom as he works on deck planking. He reports after thinning the bulwarks he separated the kit supplied scribed sheet planking into separate planks and completed the aft deck and waterways. Last month, after fairing the hull and beginning the process to cover the hull, Alex said developing patience and resisting the urge to rush the work was his greatest challenge. He reports his satisfaction with his progress so far!
U.S. Brig Syren (1803) by Royce Privett Plank-on-bulkhead kit by Model Shipways Scale - 1:64, 3/16 inch = 1 foot Royce reports his progress on the Chuck Passaro designed kit of USS Syren, a 240-ton brig built by Nathaniel Hutton at Philadelphia in 1803 he first presented in October 2017. On September 27th, Syren set sail for Gibraltar under the command of Lt. Charles Stewart. She cruised the Mediterranean during the spring and summer of 1804 and participated in the attacks on Tripoli. She remained there for almost a year after the peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on June 10, 1805. Departing Gibraltar on May 28 of 1806, she reached the Washington Navy Yard in early August, where she was laid up until her reactivation in 1807. During her service in the War of 1812, she was captured by the 74-gun HMS Medway after an 11-hour chase.
November 2017 meeting photo Royce reports his basswood, beech, and walnut model has completed wales painted black and the painted yellow ochre hull has been planked from the wales to the cap rail to match the original ship. The hull from the wales to the keel has also been planked with the wales to the water line painted black Rob Wood and the waterline to the keel copper plated. After adding the transom, Royce report it partially painted. The Guild looks forward to seeing Royce’s next progress report! March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 9 Derfflinger by Don Dressel Kit by Art Am. Fuesta, Scratch built masting and rigging Scale - 1:52 Don reports with Dave Yotter looking on, at the end of the 17th Century, the fluyt Derfflinger belonged to the fleet of Kurfverstentum Brandenburg. In the “Triangle Trade” of that time she transported rum and other stuffs to Africa, bought slaves and sailed for the West Indies, then exchanged the slaves for sugar for the return journey to Europe. Later, she and other Brandenburg ships were used in the war of the Spanish Succession. Don made a similar presentation to the SMA as reported in the SMA Newsletter. Excerpted from the January newsletter “Don brought in his continuing efforts on masting and rigging the Derfflinger. He has managed to complete the fore, main and mizzen masts and is now in the process of installing the shrouds, stays and other associated standing rigging. The time consuming process of “ratteling down” or installing the ratlines has been started. There was some difficulty in the rigging process since the instructions for rigging were “lost”, so a little research had to be completed to determine the size of line, number of shrouds, stay procedure, belaying pin locations, etc. Several books were consulted including Historic Ship Models by Wolfram zu Mondfeld, The Ships of Abel Tasman by Ab Hoving and Cor Emke as well as the book 17th Century Dutch Merchant Ships by Ab Hoving. Don also mentioned that he is using a new procedure while installing his ratlines with clove hitches – he is using Elmer’s washable clear glue on the clove hitches once they are tied to make sure they do not move and/or untie, although that is not supposed to happen with clove hitches. He also uses a large needle to help “rove” the clove hitches through the shrouds in order to try and get a little “curve” between each shroud with the ratline. There is nothing worse than a shroud being pulled out of alignment while installing the ratlines. Don does not think that perfectly straight ratlines look good either.” Then in the February newsletter “Progress has been made on the standing rigging and all the ratlines have been completed on the shrouds. The lower stays have been installed on the fore, main and mizzen masts. There is a lot more standing rigging that has to be completed including the topmast stay, the crowsfeet on fore and main and the backstays. One of the difficulties with this rigging is the lack of detailed plans, but fortunately there is a lot of information available on Dutch fluyt ships. The just released book 17th century Dutch Merchant Ships by A. J. Hoving as well as the plans and book The Ships of Abel Tasman by Hoving give all the information needed to complete the masting and rigging process of a Dutch fluyt. Don is using linen line in his “stash” that has been collected over the years to complete the Don at February SMA Meeting rigging along with Lloyd Warner blocks as well as blocks and rigging details from the old Art Am Fuesta kit, which is no longer in production. The closest kit model currently available of this ship is by Euromodel. The plans provided in both books listed above supply all the information required to scratch build a Dutch fluyt if desired.” March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 10 USS Swordfish (SSN-579) Displayed by Dave Yotter Scale 1:96 Dave shared his Swordfish with the SMA at their January meeting and the following is an excerpt from the February SMA Newsletter. “Your reporter (Dave) brought back his 1:96 scale model of the boat he served aboard in the mid ‘60s, USS Swordfish (SSN-579). Swordfish, the second of a class of four Skate-class submarines, was the fourth nuclear submarine built and commissioned in the United States Navy. The contract to build her was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine on 18 July 1955, and her keel was laid down on 25 January 1956. She was launched on 27 August 1957 sponsored by Mrs. Eugene C. Riders and commissioned on 15 September 1958 with Commander Shannon D. Cramer, Jr., in command. Mel Douyette of Cold War Submarines made this model of Swordfish in 1:192 scale. The hull is made of cast resin with aluminum masts. As delivered, the model was mounted on a red oak base with a routed edge treatment, a name plate and a pair of dolphins (the insignia warn by qualified submarine sailors) to complete the display. I wanted to upgrade the model’s presentation and add a cover to keep off the dust and grime. I didn’t have a big slab of hardwood in my lumber stash that I wanted to use as a base for the case. Instead, I used two pieces of ½ inch Baltic birch plywood, one of the top of the other with the top one cut in from the edge of the bottom by the width of the acrylic cover thickness. I had some red gun strip wood obtained from Lloyd Warner some time back. Four pieces were placed around the outside of the bottom of the base and then the top was “planked” with more strips of the red gum. The acrylic cover was custom made by our friends of PlexiDisplays www.PlexiDisplays.com in La Habra. The nameplate was done for me at Tustin Awards (closer to home for me than PlexiDisplays) https://tustinawards.com/ laser etched on birch ply. I added hull dimensions and commissioning information to the info that Mel had placed on the original nameplate. To finish off the presentation I added the dolphins and a Swordfish challenge coin to the base. The only challenge with the whole process was that the red gum planking was relatively thin and the glue moisture caused some warping of the individual planks. Some of the red gum will be available at the next meeting for members. Lloyd only asks that proceeds from purchase go to the club.” Dave tells a wonderful story of submarine service! March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 11
USS Roper (DD-147) and German U-Boat U-85 Diorama by Karl Zingheim Scale 1:125 Karl tells us his project is actually a page from Jon Sanford’s family history. Jon’s dad, an Annapolis graduate, served aboard the USS Roper, a four- stacker that achieved the first US U-Boat kill of WW II. The drawings were to show how large the Roper model would be since her target, U-85, will dictate the scale of the scene. This is because the U-85 was a Type VIIB, and Revell has a very good kit of a Type VIIB in 1/125 scale. Wikipedia offers “USS Roper (DD-147) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Roper's keel was laid down on 19 March 1918, launched on 17 August 1918, and commissioned on 15 February 1919. Through the prewar Neutrality Patrol period, Roper ranged the waters off the East and Gulf Coasts. (After providing convoy escort duty) to Londonderry Port, she returned to the Norfolk area for patrol and escort duty. A month later, on the night of 13/14 April, she made contact with a surfaced U-boat off the coast of North Carolina. The ensuing chase ended with the sinking by artillery fire of German submarine U-85 (1941), a unit of the 7th U-boat Flotilla. Thus the Roper sank the first German submarine by US Naval forces in WWII. According to the after action report, the attack occurred after midnight local time after Roper closed to identify an unknown contact (U-85) and was narrowly missed by a torpedo prior to opening fire. The commanding officer delayed rescue operations until daybreak and after the arrival of air support from a PBY Catalina and an airship due to concern of an attack by a second U-Boat. No charges were filed against the crew of Roper and 29 sailors of U-85 were buried with military honors at Hampton National Cemetery.Roper's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Hamilton W. Howe, received the Navy Cross for the engagement of the submarine and retired in 1956 with the rank of Rear Admiral.” Jon tells a story related to him by his Dad after his Dad had watched a TV game show, “I've Got a Secret”. His Dad told him while serving on the Roper and on patrol in the Caribbean region they conducted a rescue mission of survivors of a torpedoed European refugee boat. Among the rescued survivors was a woman who gave birth to a baby during the rescue. At the end of the game show Jon’s Dad was watching, the central character reveals that he (she? Jon does not recall if the contestant was a man or a woman!) was born on a lifeboat during a rescue from being torpedoed by a U-Boat. His (Her?) name was Roper and Jon’s Dad exclaimed to Jon, we rescued him (or her)! USS Roper’s anchor on display outside building 5 on the MIT campus March 2018 NEWSLETTER Page 12
Think about (Bob Kyle making progress on a project in the Museum Model Shop and representing the Guild to Maritime Museum visitors!)
Helping Out (James Pitt and Jon Sanford working on a restoration and sharing a tale!)
In the Museum Model Shop! (and while there, maybe give a young visitor the gift of modeling in the form of one of our paper ships”! Fair Sign-UP Sheet 2018 . San Diego Ship Modellers Guild
Booth Hours: M-F 1100 - 1800 -- Weekend: 1000 - 1800 Fair set up Fair take down 1 1 Friday June 1 Saturday June 2 2 2 Fair set up May 13, 12:30 pm 3 3 1 4 4 Fair Take Down July 7, 10:00 am 5 5 Fair Opens at 1600 2
3 Sunday June 3 Monday June 4 Tuesday 5 Wednesday June 6 Thursday June 7 Friday June 8 Saturday June 9
1 1 1 1 1 Exhibits Closed Exhibits Closed 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 Demo 3 3 3 Sunday June 10 Monday June 11 Tuesday June 12 Wednesday June 13 Thursday June 14 Friday June 15 Saturday June 16
1 1 1 1 1 Exhibits Closed Exhibits Closed 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 Demo 3 3 3 Sunday June 17 Monday June 18 Tuesday June 19 Wednesday June 20 Thursday June 21 Friday June 22 Saturday June 23
1 1 1 1 1 Exhibits Closed Exhibits Closed 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 Demo 3 3 3 Sunday June 24 Monday June 25 Tuesday June 26 Wednesday June 27 Thursday June 28 Friday June 29 Saturday June 30
1 1 1 1 1 Exhibits Closed Exhibits Closed 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 Demo 3 3 3 Sunday July 1 Monday July 2 Tuesday July 3 Wednesday July 4
1 1 1 1 WEDNESDAYS ARE DEMO NIGHTS June 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th 2 2 2 2 July 4th 1800-2000
3 3 3 3 Demo